Deconstruction of Requiem For a Dream Teaser Trailer- Editing

Editing Techniques

Distortion is a common theme throughout this teaser trailer, various aspects manipulate the shots in order to convey this, and the content of the film is highlighted in several ways. One very effective and common way in which this is done is through the editing; many of the editing techniques effectively exaggerate aspects of the trailer, such as split screens. These split screens emphasise the effect of the drugs and suggest that this is how the mind is effected. Additionally, as the drugs are presented on screen simultaneously with the characters, it suggests that they are losing as sense of self and allowing the drugs to take over.

A fish-eye camera lens is used throughout the trailer to reinforce the impression of distortion, it is presented as a point of view shot, and indicates that this is a mirror of the character's mental state.

Pace is used for effect in this teaser tailer, aspects of it are cut and overlapped to result in multiple shots being displayed on screen within a very shot space if time. This could be mirroring the internal chaos that is occurring within the characters. This fast pace is made to appear even faster when is it immediately juxtaposed by a following longer, slower shot. This draws attentions to these slower shots. signifying their importance and creating  intensity.

The post-productions editing, such as layering, again reiterates this theme of distortion, as it physically distorts the onscreen images, making it difficult for the viewer to distinguish between images and be sure of what is happening.

Post effects such as the one seen on the right, are used to exaggerate the character's emotions, the onscreen action clearly conveys their distress, and the effect on top of this further demonstrates it.

Editing

Editing is one of the most significant parts of making a teaser trailer. Because they are conventionally short (1 minute 30 seconds and under), a lot of fast paced editing is required, in order to show a range of shots throughout the movie.

Here is a list of editing techniques we have used in our trailer:

Straight cuts

These are used in almost every type of film and are a simple, effective way of changing to another shot.

Fades

This is a fade to black which we have used to separate the trailer into two halves, before and after the drug. The concept of day turning into night is often used in films to create a sense of foreboding- something is going to occur now that it is night as this provides a more sinister, mysterious environment.

Layering Shots

A theme in our Teaser Trailer, is that the protagonist almost transforms into a whole other person when she is under the influence of the drugs, which is why we used layering. More than one image of the protagonist on the screen not only created a visually distorted shot, it also depicted the sense that something sinister was occurring- and that both sides of this character can't co-exist forever.

Montages

A convention of a teaser trailer is fast paced montage editing- to allow a variation of shots to be included. The two main montages are the one at the beginning, representing the protagonist's life before, and the next one is when the bass drops in the non diegetic song and the protagonist's life spirals out of control. There is a juxtaposition between the two and they highlight the effect drugs can have.

Vignette

When  filming in the Theatre, we realised the light was best placed, if it was behind Bethan, creating a red outline around her silhouette. However there were items in the background that we needed to remove so the vignette tool was very useful on Final Cut Pro. We were able to darken the edges around the shot, without making the entire shot darker thus fading the vibrant colour.

Cutting shots and changing the order, to create a jittery effect- causing an effect of distortion was another Post-Production technique we used. Rather than a simple shot of the protagonist putting the drug into her mouth, we experimented with moving frames around and the final result was something that we believed worked well with the theme of addiction.